


Heart it Races

by iamnotmagic_cath



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Sharing a Bed, Sleepovers, sleepy kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:55:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9538703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamnotmagic_cath/pseuds/iamnotmagic_cath
Summary: Betty hated the word “perfect.” She hated when her mother used it to describe her to other parents when catching up in the grocery store (especially when she heard the unspoken “unlike her sister”), she hated it when Cheryl used it to mock her, and most recently she hated it when Archie used it to break her heart.Betty hated the word perfect because it was a weapon to remind her that she wasn’t.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the ever wonderful @chartreuser who is a word smith and a poet and even though she isn't in the fandom, is 100% the reason I wrote it  
> Title 100% comes from the song Heart it Races by Dr. Dog because it was stuck in my head the entire time I was writing this fic and I am bad at titles

Betty hated the word “perfect.” She hated when her mother used it to describe her to other parents when catching up in the grocery store (especially when she heard the unspoken “unlike her sister”), she hated it when Cheryl used it to mock her, and most recently she hated it when Archie used it to break her heart.

Betty hated the word perfect because it was a weapon to remind her that she wasn’t.

These were the thoughts that occupied her during lunch as Kevin chatted away, catching her up on the latest Riverdale gossip. She would feel bad about not listening, but she knew Kevin didn’t really need her feedback - and he understood that she needed companionship while she sorted her feelings out in the aftermath of the dance on Saturday. He was a good friend like that.

She was glad that Archie, normally oblivious to her feelings, had chosen to sit with Reggie and Moose today. Veronica was nowhere to be found, or so she thought when she heard Kevin’s friendly chatter falter and stop completely as he began to project icy disdain at the person walking over to join them. Veronica determinedly continues until she is standing next to Betty, holding her lunch tray like a shield.

Betty shakes her head minutely, cutting Kevin off as he makes to say something undoubtedly unpleasant. Betty turns towards Veronica, inviting her to speak her piece.

“I know I’m not welcome right now and that I’ve betrayed your trust and that you have every reason to hate me right now, but please give me a chance to make it up to you.” Veronica talks almost too quickly as she make her plea.

Betty wants Veronica’s easy friendship again. She had been so hurt on Saturday, but after speaking to Archie and crying about it to Kevin on Sunday, she mostly felt a bit hollow and didn’t want that feeling to linger. Veronica had already become important fixture in her life, and Betty has decided she wants to make those amends.

“Okay,” Betty agrees, and Veronica smile hesitantly.

“Will you come for a sleepover on Friday night? It’ll just be us, and I won’t bother you until then, or after, if you want, I promise.”

“Okay,” Betty says again. “What time?”

“Seven is great. And thank you, I’ll try not to make you regret this!” Betty sees a flash of Veronica’s real smile before she turns to walk away and sit at one of the small lunch tables towards the edge of the pavilion, already doing everything she can to not overwhelm Betty. Betty smiles and turns back towards Kevin, who arches an eyebrow questioningly, but goes back to the story he was telling when she gestures for him to continues. This time it’s easier for her to pay attention.

\------

Betty had known Veronica was wealthy (or, had been, anyway) and had tried to mentally prepare herself for the evening, ready to be thrown both by the awkwardness between her and Veronica as well as the expected unfamiliarity with the grandeur of the chosen surroundings. She still feels a bit overwhelmed when she’s greeted at the door by an honest-to-goodness butler (and seriously, Smithers was such an obviously cliché butler name, straight out of a comic book) and led through the foyer to the main room where Veronica is waiting for her. Betty is still trying to take in the glamorous scene (Veronica equally as glamorous as the room itself) when Veronica hugs her shyly in greeting, as if she’s still unsure of her reception.

Veronica only pauses shortly before she begins speaking, “My mom is going to be out with old friends tonight so we have the place to ourselves. I picked up some burgers and onion rings from the Chok’lit Shoppe earlier for supper. I was thinking we could eat while watching a movie?” Veronica looks to Betty for confirmation, so she nods in assent, trying to exude calm both for herself and for Veronica, who looks more unsettled than Betty had thought Veronica ever could be.

“Thanks for coming, by the way.” Veronica gently nudges Betty’s shoulder with her own. She guides her through a kitchen to grab a couple of takeout bags from the Chok’lit Shoppe and into what Betty presumes is the home theater, furnished as it is with several recliners and a screen in front. Veronica’s voice had lost its tension after her initial greeting, and Betty finds herself feeling much more comfortable despite the unfamiliar setting.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Betty says as Veronica starts to plate the food and gets the movie ready. “It’s nice to hang out with someone other than Archie or Kevin.”

“Especially someone who isn’t a boy, right?” Veronica smirks and Betty laughs.

“Yeah, they’re great and everything, but it’s nice having a friend who knows what being a girl is like. I can’t exactly bitch to them about my period or itchy bra. Or rather I can,” she adds, “but they don’t really get it.”

“And most guys don’t have tampons handy,” Veronica adds, laughing.

“So much for Boy Scouts and ‘be prepared,’” Betty also laughs.

They eventually get through the burgers and the movie, and a second one before they decide to call it a night. They change into their pajamas and after a brief war over whether or not the hostess or the guest should get the bed, Veronica determines that the bed is big enough to share (and a king-sized four poster bed might be overkill for a teenager but it’s definitely roomy).

Betty easily settles down next to Veronica, turning comfortably over onto her side. Her body is starting to relax and recognize that it’s time to sleep when she hears Veronica softly say “I’m really, really sorry I kissed Archie. I know how much you like him, and I shouldn’t have done it, especially after pushing so hard to help you two get together. I’m surprised you accepted my invitation after I acted like a two-faced bitch.”

Betty rolls over so she’s looking at Veronica. Veronica is on her back, but has her faced turned to Betty, purposefully meeting her eyes, exhibiting such steely determination that Betty can’t help but admire Veronica’s fierceness and sincerity.

“I’m not angry at you,” Betty says after a moment, putting her thoughts into words. “I won’t lie, I was hurt, but mostly it was Archie who hurt me, not you. That was the only time you did anything at all to hurt me, and you’ve only know me a short while, I get it.”

“That doesn’t excuse what I did,” Veronica replies, “I’ve only known you a few weeks but that doesn’t make it okay. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had and that wasn’t a besties move.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Betty agrees, Veronica tenses a little “ut Archie’s been my friend for a long time, and never once has he given me a quarter of the attention he gives you and that’s what really hurt. That to him I’ll never be an option. You know, afterwards, he told me that he couldn’t be good enough for me, because I’m so ‘perfect.’ But if I were perfect, wouldn’t he like me back?” Betty’s voice chokes a little on the last part, and Veronica reaches over and rubs Betty’s arm in a soothing gesture.

“Thanks,” Betty mumbles as she forces herself not to cry over something that didn’t deserve her tears.

“I’m sorry,” Veronica says again, and Betty understands that she’s sorry for all of it: the kiss, Archie’s lack of affection, and Betty being hurt by it.

“I know, and I forgive you. And,” Betty adds. “I don’t think you’re a two-faced bitch.”

Veronica giggles and pats Betty’s arm before shifting to face towards Betty. Betty misses the contact, but enjoys the companionable silence as they stare gently at each other. Betty softly rolls over onto her back and stares at the ceiling.

“You know, I think at least part of the reason I like Archie so much is because I’m supposed to. We’ve been friends for so long and grew up together; it’s like the epic start to a great romance, right?”

Veronica hums in acquiescence then starts giggling.

“What?” asks Betty, a bit miffed at the reaction, “hat’s so funny about me revealing my innermost thoughts to you?”

“Nothing!” Veronica sobers for moment so she can fully express her sincerity to Betty. “It’s just…I thought sleepovers were supposed to pass the Bechdel test.” She starts giggling again and looks pleased when Betty joins in.

“Whoever says that has never been to a real sleepover then. All we do is talk about our stupid crushes on stupid boys!”

“What, you never talked about crushes on stupid girls?” Veronica arches one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows and smirks.

Betty grabs one of the small decorative pillows that are so abundant on the bed and lightly whacks Veronica on the arm. “I think Riverdale is way too straight for that.” But she thinks for a second about how much she used to like sleepovers at Cheryl’s, before Cheryl got mean, before her brother hurt Polly, before Jason was murdered. Betty had loved spending time with Cheryl, had admired how brightly Cheryl’s cherry red locks shone even in the dim glow of the nightlight as they lay side by side in their sleeping bags, talking into the night.

Betty is startled from her thoughts by Veronica’s feather light touch on her arm. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

“For what?” Betty wrinkles her brow in confusion, having thought that they had completed all the apologies they needed.

“For kissing you in front of the cheerleading squad. That wasn’t cool for a lot of reasons, but Cheryl was being rude and I lost my head a bit trying to prove something.”

“Oh…” Betty looks up at the ceiling to avoid Veronica’s gaze as her face warms, “I didn’t mind,” she says in a small voice. She is all of a sudden conscious of the heat of Veronica’s body next to her in the bed, which had seemed so large earlier but was now feeling a lot more intimate. There’s a sudden tightness as her heart seems to relocate to her throat and she asks, “What were you trying to prove?”

Veronica pouts and wrinkles her brow a little before answering. “I think I wanted to prove that I could do anything, and that…I’d rather stick by you than please anyone else in there.” Betty’s stomach swoops when she sees that Veronica is blushing a bit (and Betty had thought that Veronica was too cool to ever get that flustered). “It’s just, you didn’t really know me except for the awful things people were saying about my father, but you were still kind to me. I was so grateful because before I would have been so mean to you, if you had come to New York rather than me coming here.”

Betty looks back at Veronica and takes a shaky breath when she sees Veronica looking right back at her. Betty gently laces her fingers through Veronica’s and squeezes her hand in a comforting gesture. “Thank you,” she whispers in deference to the lack of space between them. “It means a lot to have a friend stand up for me like you have. Even Archie’s too oblivious most of the time to realize when I need that. I’m glad you’re here.” Betty squeezes Veronica’s hand again. “You’ve been a really good friend.”

“Even after I kissed Archie?” Veronica sounds so regretful, and Betty hates that, especially after having forgiven her.

“Water under the bridge. Besides, after years of liking him and him not being interested in me like that, it starts to hurt too much to hold on to that.” Veronica only looks slightly relieved so Betty continues. “You’ve only been here a couple of weeks but you’re already as import to me as Archie is. I don’t want to hold that over your head when I can’t blame you for falling for him as easily as I did. It’s hard to resist him when you have his full attention.”

Veronica sighs and Betty’s face is so close to hers that she can feel the small breeze from it. “You know, his attention isn’t as captivating as yours, Betty.” Veronica stares determinedly at Betty and they’re so close and Betty has to glance down to see Veronica’s shy smile. Betty gulps trying to breathe around the swooping feeling in her gut. She feels oddly lightheaded as Veronica continues to look at her as if she’s the only thing in the world.

“Is it okay if I kiss you again?”

Betty doesn’t even bother answering, she just gives in to the inevitability and pushes forward to meet Veronica’s lips with her own. Veronica startles for a moment, surprised at Betty’s eagerness, but then smiles into the soft kiss. Betty closes her eyes and revels in the feeling of having her affection returned. Her hand, still interwoven with Veronica’s, moves up to cradle it by her chest.

Both girls feel the weight of the long day and long night of talking, and the kiss remains soft and intimate. Veronica suddenly yawns and Betty starts to giggle. Veronica looks slightly mortified before joining in. Their laughter peters out and Veronica sighs. “We should probably get some sleep. But perhaps tomorrow we could pick up where we left off?”

Betty blushes and nods, “I’d like that.” They smile at each other and shift around to get into a comfortable sleeping position.

Betty is sad to lose contact with Veronica’s hand, but it is more than made up for when Veronica curls up tight against her back and rests the hand on her hip instead. Betty feels giddy and content as she drifts off to sleep. The last thing she remembers is Veronica gently kissing her hair and whispering fiercely, “Betty Cooper, you are perfect.” And for the first time, Betty doesn’t hate that word.

**Author's Note:**

> -I would like to mention that Alison Bechdel herself has said she would prefer it to be called the Bechdel-Wallace test, but common usage overruled that so I made sure to make a note of it down here  
> -The movies that Betty and Veronica watched were But I'm a Cheerleader and the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie (at least in my head they are)  
> -I have only ever read bits and pieces of Mark Waid's run on Archie and then watched the first episode of Riverdale but I fell in love with Betty Cooper so I had to write this fic (especially because I have lots of friends who are right in wanting more F/F fic in the world)  
> -Thank you for reading!


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